In the minute establishing the fourpenny rate, care had been taken to show that the measure was only temporary, and merely intended to give needful practice in the new mode of charge, viz., by weight, before the great expected increase in the number of letters should occur. The explanation, however, did not give universal satisfaction, and I began now practically to feel how great an advantage had been neglected when Government declined to take up postal reform without awaiting the coercion of popular demand. The spontaneous reduction of the existing high rates to a _maximum_ of even sixpence or eightpence, would have been welcomed with joy and gratitude; now so low a maximum as fourpence, though this was the lowest of all General Post rates when my pamphlet was published, was received with no small amount of dissatisfaction. Suspicions arose that the concession would go no further; Government was accused of an intention to cheat the public; and I, too, had a share in the accusation, being charged in some of the newspapers with having betrayed my own cause. Hitherto denunciations had fallen on me from above; my elevation to office now gave opportunity—speedily seized on—for attacks from below. I had learnt, however, before this time that all this was to be expected and endured; that the only chance of escaping obloquy is to avoid prominence; that the thin-skinned should keep within the pale of private life. December the 5th, the day appointed for the first change, was of course passed in considerable anxiety as to the result, but of necessity I had to await the next morning for the satisfaction of my curiosity. The following is from my Journal, December 6th:— “There was an increase of about fifty per cent. in the number of letters despatched from London on Thursday as compared with the previous Thursday, and a loss of about £500 out of £1,600 in the total charges. The number of paid letters in the district post has increased from less than 9,000 to about 23,000; the number of unpaid letters remaining about the same as before, viz., 32,000. No doubt the increase is greater at present than it will be in a day or two, as comparatively few letters were written the day before the reduction; still the result is as yet satisfactory. The Chancellor of the Exchequer thinks very much so. “_December 7th._—As I expected, the number of letters yesterday was less than on Thursday; the increase as compared with the previous Friday being about twenty-five per cent. only.” When it was found that the immediate increase was so very moderate, the moment had arrived for exultation in those who had predicted failure; and, like Sir Fretful Plagiary, I was fortunate enough to have more than one “damned good-natured friend” to keep me sufficiently informed of the jubilation.